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Marcia Bartusiak

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Marcia Bartusiak
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Journalist
Academic
Known forScience writing, Teaching
AwardsAmerican Institute of Physics Science Writing Award (1982, 2001, 2019), History of Science Society Davis Prize (2010), American Institute of Physics Gemant Award (2006), Fellow of the AAAS (2008), Astronomical Society of the Pacific's Klumpke-Roberts Award (2010), NASA Journalist-In-Space Finalist (1987), Sigma Xi Distinguished Lectureship (2022-23)

Marcia F. Bartusiak is an author, journalist, and Professor of the Practice Emeritus of the Graduate Program in Science Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Trained in both communications (B.A. from American University, 1971) and physics (M.S. from Old Dominion University, 1979), she writes about the fields of astronomy and physics.[1] Bartusiak has been published in National Geographic, Discover, Astronomy, Sky & Telescope, Science, Popular Science, World Book Encyclopedia, Smithsonian, and MIT Technology Review.[2] The author of seven books, she is also a columnist for Natural History magazine.[3]

Education and career

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Bartusiak started her career in 1971 as the first female reporter at WVEC-TV (ABC affiliate) in Norfolk, Virginia. She also served for a period as the station's first female anchor before leaving in 1975 to begin a graduate education in physics. After receiving her master's degree, she became a charter member of the writing staff of Discover magazine, when it first started up in 1980, and then began a freelance science-writing career in 1982. [4] In 2003, she joined the faculty of the MIT Graduate Program in Science Writing, retiring in 2019 as a professor emeritus.

Books

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  • Dispatches from Planet 3, a collection of cosmological essays
  • Einstein's Unfinished Symphony, a narrative overview of the new field of gravitational-wave astronomy
  • Black Hole: How an Idea Abandoned by Newtonians, Hated by Einstein, and Gambled on by Hawking Became Loved
  • Through a Universe Darkly, a history of astronomers' centuries-long quest to discover the universe's composition
  • Thursday's Universe, a layman's guide to the frontiers of astrophysics and cosmology
  • The Day We Found the Universe, a narrative saga of the birth of modern cosmology
  • Archives of the Universe, a history of the major discoveries in astronomy told through 100 of the original scientific publications

Awards

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Bartusiak has three times won the American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award: in 2019 for Dispatches from Planet 3, in 2001 for Einstein's Unfinished Symphony and in 1982 for The Ultimate Timepiece in Discover Magazine. In 2010 The Day We Found the Universe won the History of Science Society's Watson Davis and Helen Miles Davis Prize.[5] Bartusiak won the 2006 American Institute of Physics Andrew W. Gemant Award.[6] "The Andrew Gemant Award recognizes the accomplishments of a person who has made significant contributions to the cultural, artistic, or humanistic dimension of physics given annually."[7] In 2008 she was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for “exceptionally clear communication of the rich history, the intricate nature, and the modern practice of astronomy to the public at large" and was also chosen to be a 2022-23 Distinguished Lecturer for Sigma Xi, the scientific research honor society.[8]

Bibliography

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Year Title Publisher Subject matter
1986 Thursday's Universe Random House Astronomy and Astrophysics
1993 Through a Universe Darkly HarperCollins History of Astronomy
2000 Einstein's Unfinished Symphony: Listening to the Sounds of Space-Time Joseph Henry Press Astronomy
2004 Archives of the Universe: A Treasury of Astronomy's Historic Works of Discovery Pantheon Books History of Astronomy
2009 The Day We Found the Universe Pantheon Books History of Astronomy
2015 Black Hole Yale University Press History of Astronomy
2017 Einstein's Unfinished Symphony: The Story of a Gamble, Two Black Holes,

and a New Age of Astronomy

Yale University Press Astronomy and Astrophysics
2018 Dispatches from Planet 3 Yale University Press Astronomy and Astrophysics

References

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  1. ^ "Faculty and Staff : MIT Grad Program in Science Writing". Retrieved 2014-03-14.
  2. ^ Bartusiak, Marcia. "Marcia Bartusiak". Retrieved 2014-03-14.
  3. ^ "Natural History Magazine". Retrieved 2014-03-14.
  4. ^ Ruehlmann, William (January 24, 1987). "Marcia's Universe". The Virginian Pilot.
  5. ^ "History of Science Society". Archived from the original on 2007-10-27. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
  6. ^ "MIT News". 16 January 2007. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
  7. ^ "Andrew Gemant Award - American Institute of Physics". Retrieved 2014-03-14.
  8. ^ "2022-2023 Lecturers". www.sigmaxi.org. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
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